Project
Cambridge City Hall
City of Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Originally built in 1887, the historic City Hall underwent a 13-month restoration of its façade, addressing the original stone, the existing wood window frames, the clock tower, flagpole, and the gilding restoration of the historic text above the entryway to City Hall. The clock tower restoration included removing the hands and numbers to repaint the faces on all four sides and minor restorations to the clock’s machinery, so it can continue to be hand-wound each week. Finegold Alexander Architects as the Architect-of-Record, in collaboration with Simpson, Gumpertz and Heger and ARUP, revitalized the City Hall located in the center of Cambridge’s City Hall Historic District, an area on the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1880s, Cambridge philanthropist Frederick Hastings Rindge, provided funding for the building, originally designed by architecture firm, Longfellow, Alden & Harlow.
Photo credits: Raj Das Photography and TRAC Builders, Inc.
Size
Exterior Renovation Only
Scope
Restoration
Program
Clock Tower Restoration, Regilding Historic Text, Flagpole Replacement, Wooden Window Frame Restoration, Stone Masonry Restoration
Sustainability
Awards
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Project EUI
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The restoration preserves the building’s charm and character while ensuring it remains a welcoming, inspiring, and meaningful space for everyone who depends on it, for many years to come.
-Aoife Viglianti, City of Cambridge Capital Building Projects Department
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The terracotta masonry was internationally sourced to closely match the original stone façade. An added density in the new stone required additional joint beams to the building. The team cleverly stained the stones with coffee grounds to achieve a permanent weathered effect to resemble existing stone.
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